WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM

Friday, November 04, 2011

FALL

There's a certain crispness to the mornings here in NYC that just quietly whispers that Fall is here and Winter is coming. We are not running in the NYC marathon but for the last few mornings we have quietly arisen before dawn and plodded through Central Park and the West Side. Sometimes running, sometimes walking. always enjoying the sunrise and then a hot cup of coffee and pastry at a local patisserie.

We love South Florida, but we do miss the change of seasons.

DOM asks if Judges should be able to ignore joint sentencing recommendations? We note that in Federal Court the only thing a defendant has a right to is a jury trial. A judge has to accept and approve a plea of guilty and many times they don't. So to answer DOM, A judge does not have to accept a joint sentencing recommendation, although we think they should. Indeed a Judge should not accept a plea of guilty where there is a joint sentencing recommendation if there is even a shadow of a doubt in their mind as to whether they will accept the parties recommendation.

We have never seen a judge reject an agreed upon plea in state court. Please post your stories on this subject.

The Dolphins are on the road at KC facing a Chiefs team coming off a MNF upset of the Chargers. 0-8 looks likely.

Meanwhile, take your hats off to Michael Feiler and Clay Kaeiser continue their battle in the suicide pool to week nine. Mr. Feiler barely escaped alive after the Ravens mounted a furious comeback last week and saved their season and his skin.

Enjoy the weekends. The lamb chops for us tonight at Ai Fiori, and then some sushi at Nobu for us tomorrow night.

12 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Most state court judges will, in rare instances, reject an agreed upon plea, usually because they believe the plea is too lenient and/or defendant will violate probation. Not an everyday occurence, but it has happened to most of us a time or two (or three)l A former Circuit Judge who shall remain nameless was notorious in the 90s for rejecting agreed upon pleas.

Phil Reizenstein rocked the house yesterday at Bill Altfield's investiture. First time I've ever seen standing O for a presenter. Funny, actually hysterical, and then poignant. Really a great job. The guy has a soft side. Who knew?

Ever wonder why Miami-Dade county court judges don't offer court pleas or even offer to get involved when state-defense negotiations are going nowhere? Broward county court judges almost always offer or are open to court pleas.